Capital Region developers, contractors benefit from warm weather

Construction is under way at Contemporary Artists Center at Woodside in Troy. (Photo provided)

Let's play Devil's advocate, just for the next several paragraphs.

With the warm average temperatures the past few years -- especially last year's global mercury reading ranking in the top ten warmest since 1880 and the past 36 consecutive years' average global temperatures being above the 20th century average -- there's almost no denying that Al Gore was probably right and climate change is well on its way.

Instead of making lemonade from given lemons, many area developers and construction companies are using the warmer weather to the benefit of the local economy. Construction schedules in the past couple of years have rarely halted work come November or December as has been the precedent in decades past.

"The warm weather definitely helped last year," said Marc Rivers, senior project manager at Troy-based U.W. Marx Construction Company. He pointed out that this current winter has not been as mild but the limited exterior work at the Troy Middle School has been underway, despite the usual northeast construction schedules. "Last year, we worked through the winter."

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He said he noticed a lot of ongoing construction, even in January. He pointed to the work at the new McDonald's on Hoosick Street and construction that U.W. Marx is performing at Union College in Schenectady which also has not yet stopped for the winter. This is resulting in more people being paid over the winter. "If there's no snow to move, there's more production," said Rivers, a 10-year veteran in the field.

Uri Kaufman, whose development company has been working on local projects like the Harmony Mills Lofts in Cohoes, added, "Where we've all saved money in the last two years is on snow removal. It has been a milder winter so far like last year and it has benefited us a little."

Still, he said he was not sure the weather has changed project timelines since the affects have been small and incremental.

Albany-based Turner Construction Company's Carl Stewart, vice president and operations manager, said he thought that on a small scale the cost savings would result in more business and projects.

"When costs are reduced, developers will invest that capital in more projects," he said of saving on temporary heating and enclosing projects. He cited that several hundred thousand dollars was spent on winter protection during construction in 2010-2011 while less than $50,000 was spent in 2011-2012.

One developer contacted, who did not want to be quoted, said that he did not really believe in global warming until he started noticing his firm was working much longer in the winters.

Construction at the Contemporary Artists Center at Woodside, which is revamping a former church into an artist residency and art gallery, just finished exterior work for the winter on Friday, said project manager John Johanson.

"We were able to work longer," he said, emphasizing that he was hesitant to say this was a good thing considering the overall circumstances of global warming and climate change. "The exterior is mostly complete and we'll do the interior over the winter."

John Nigro, with Nigro Companies, said they benefited last year when work on a new Binghamton Price Chopper continued through the winter.

"This isn't something that just happened yesterday or last year. This is a pattern from the last five to ten years," he said.

In the Capital District, the 2012 average temperature of 51.6-degrees was 3.3-degrees higher than the normal, explained National Weather Service meteorologist Thomas Wasula.

"Those three degrees are relatively significant," he said, adding that the 2011 average temperature was also nearly 2-degrees above normal.

He summed up last year as warmer and drier than usual with precipitation down by more than 2-inches. There were thirteen 90-degree days and 126 days below freezing, nine under the normal. There were only two days around 0-degrees, and there are normally eight, he said.

"How this all fits is yet to be determined," he said, referring to nature's cycles. "But the last decade has been warmer."